"Every
Christian is equipped and called to be a far more disciplined person than any
politician, business leader, or olympian. We are to have a killer instinct, and
it has a target: sin."
1 Kings
21:1-19 "Now there was a man named Naboth, from Jezreel, who owned a
vineyard in Jezreel beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2 One day Ahab
said to Naboth, "Since your vineyard is so convenient to my palace, I
would like to buy it to use as a vegetable garden. I will give you a better
vineyard in exchange, or if you prefer, I will pay you for it." 3 But
Naboth replied, "The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance
that was passed down by my ancestors." 4 So Ahab went home angry and
sullen because of Naboth's answer. The king went to bed with his face to the
wall and refused to eat! 5 "What's the matter?" his wife Jezebel
asked him. "What's made you so upset that you're not eating?" 6
"I asked Naboth to sell me his vineyard or trade it, but he refused!"
Ahab told her. 7 "Are you the king of Israel or not?" Jezebel
demanded. "Get up and eat something, and don't worry about it. I'll get
you Naboth's vineyard!" 8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them
with his seal, and sent them to the elders and other leaders of the town where
Naboth lived. 9 In her letters she commanded: "Call the citizens together
for fasting and prayer, and give Naboth a place of honor. 10 And then seat two
scoundrels across from him who will accuse him of cursing God and the king.
Then take him out and stone him to death." 11 So the elders and other town
leaders followed the instructions Jezebel had written in the letters. 12 They
called for a fast and put Naboth at a prominent place before the people. 13
Then the two scoundrels came and sat down across from him. And they accused
Naboth before all the people, saying, "He cursed God and the king."
So he was dragged outside the town and stoned to death. 14 The town leaders
then sent word to Jezebel, "Naboth has been stoned to death." 15 When
Jezebel heard the news, she said to Ahab, "You know the vineyard Naboth
wouldn't sell you? Well, you can have it now! He's dead!" 16 So Ahab
immediately went down to the vineyard of Naboth to claim it. 17 But the LORD
said to Elijah, 18 "Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in
Samaria. He will be at Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel, claiming it for himself.
19 Give him this message: 'This is what the LORD says: Wasn't it enough that
you killed Naboth? Must you rob him, too? Because you have done this, dogs will
lick your blood at the very place where they licked the blood of Naboth!
25 No one
else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the LORD's sight as Ahab
did under the influence of his wife Jezebel."
1.
Ahab's
selfish demand.
1.
Vs 1-2.
All of Ahab's possessions did not satisfy him as he coveted what belonged to Naboth.
1.
Be
careful when your passions drive you to destroy others.
2.
Be
concerned when your hunger can not be quenched by possessions.
3.
He
offered to exchange or buy it, but to his surprise and anger Naboth refused.
1.
A
sulking king acting like a spoiled child!
1.
Covetousness
is a dreadful sin, especially when they can not have their own way!
2.
Vs. 2
something else in this passage, God's very best is very close.
1.
His
presence is very close.
2.
God's
presence is very convenient, sometimes too convenient.
1.
Many
people have all these resources available to them yet there is no hunger for
God's presence, miracles, and purpose in their lives.
1.
It's
as if the Devil has made many of us an offer that we could not refuse.
2.
Selling
our birthrights for less than.
1.
We
have taken his less than perfect plan and embraced it as "the very best
thing."
2.
Traded
our inheritance from God for the measly fleeting pleasures of this life.
1.
Exchanging
character for fame, replacing values for possessions, and manufacturing love
for lust.
3.
Ahab
gives this impression that Naboth was just being stubborn, when the whole truth
was that Naboth was obeying God.
1.
Truth
matters.
1.
Mankind needs to be reminded constantly, that
sin separates us from God.
2.
Secondly, we need God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness
that only comes through belief in Jesus Christ.
3.
Finally,
God unleashed His wrath upon sin and punished His Son Jesus, who laid down His
life so that we could be pardoned.
2.
Naboth's
unwavering refusal.
1.
God
looks for guts in a man.
2.
Vs 3.
This vineyard, his inheritance, had belonged to his ancestors for many
generations, how could he sell it?
1.
It
was not simply a matter of sentiment.
2.
Naboth
said, "I can not do this thing that God has forbidden.”
3.
So
he refused to disobey God, this is so vital!
1.
Are
we embracing what God has forbidden?
2.
We
need to pay attention to His word, His promises, and His righteousness.
1.
Naboth
lived out the courage of his convictions.
2.
God
looks for bravery in His people.
1.
Land
was an incredibly important possession, it meant everything.
2.
Back
when God handed out land to the twelve tribes of Israel, He forbid them to sell
or give their part away to another tribe or family.
1.
Don't
give away your inheritance in Christ!
2.
Don't
be a sell out!
3.
It's
a costly business to stand up for God, truth and righteousness, it always is, that
will never change.
1.
Be
a generation of boldness.
2.
Be
a generation of truth.
3.
Stand
up for what is right and hate evil.
1.
Refuse
cowardice, refuse degradation, and refuse silence.
Psalm
37:30-31 NLT [30] "The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from
wrong. [31] They have made God's law their own, so they will never slip from
His path."
4.
Sharing
truth is not popular in our day and culture.
1.
You
may speak truth and be labeled a hater.
1.
They'll
tell you it's outdated, out voted, and out lived.
2.
But
it will never be outclassed, out charactered, or out truthed, God's Word is
truth.
1.
Listen,
there is no compass; moral or spiritual, without God's divine, unadulterated,
unchanging, unbreakable Word.
5.
Naboth's
decision shakes the kingdom of darkness!
6.
Naboth's
decision shakes the leadership of ungodliness.
1.
His
instinct so powerful.
2.
His
instinct so natural.
1.
His
instinct so driven, it's inspiring.
1.
His
devotion to God, and blood wins out, Naboth refuses less than declaring, "I
will never let go of what God has given to me."
3.
Jezebels'
sinister plot.
1.
Vs 5-14.
Jezebel is one of the most evil and criminal figures in the Bible.
1.
She
not only shaped great evil, but she influences others to do evil.
1 Kings
16:30 "But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the LORD's sight, even
more than any of the kings before him. 31b he began to bow down in worship of
Baal. 32 First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. 33 Then he
set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the LORD, the God
of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him."
2.
When
you start bowing a knee to any thing other than God, destruction is right
around the corner.
1.
Occasional
wrong doing gradually turned into a way of life.
1.
Ahab
lived his life promoting, perpetuating, and making provision for idolatry and
sexual immorality therefore leading the entire nation into into sin.
2.
He
created the finance to preserve the worship of other gods.
1.
And
since we're sharing, in all actuality it was his wife who was leading this
charge.
1.
Percy
Sledge said it like this: When a man loves a woman Can't keep his mind on
nothing else He'll trade the world For the good thing he's found.
2.
If
she's bad he can't see it, She can do no wrong Turn his back on his best friend
If he put her down.
3.
When
a man loves a woman Down deep in his soul She can bring him such misery If she
plays him for a fool He's the last one to know Loving eyes can't ever see.
3.
What
a pawn.
1.
What
a killer instinct she had.
2.
She
has a boldness for the wrong things a passion for gods who don't even live.
1.
They
can't heal, they can't minister, they can't forgive, they can't even bring
rain.
3.
Baal
idols were generally made in the shape of a bull, representing strength and
fertility; reflecting lust for power and sexual pleasure.
1.
Welcome
to our current cultures deepest passions.
4.
At
Naboth's refusal she replied with a stinging taunt (Vs 7); she resorted
to forgery (Vs 8); her actions filled with hypocrisy (Vs 9); she
pressed others into perjury (Vs 10); and she perpetrated the horrible
act of murder (Vs 13).
1.
Executing
Naboth, the righteous, God-fearing; God honoring man.
5.
King
Ahab doesn't seem to have had the killer instinct but Jezebel, never hesitated
to go for the jugular.
4.
Jezebel’s strategy is both ironic and
disturbing.
1.
The
irony is that she would falsely accuse a man of cursing God when she had spent
her entire life cursing God, and even murdering His prophets.
2.
Her
killer instinct is very interesting that she knew enough about Israelite law to
use it against an Israelite.
3.
Utterly
distressing that she knows so much about God, seen His hand at work, her gods
had been proven to be false, yet, she continues in her ways, without fear,
love, respect, or concern for the one true God.
1.
Does
this is any way sound familiar to you?
4.
Does
this suggest that sinful people can defy God and get away with it?
1.
Absolutely
Not!
1.
Vs 17;
no sooner had Jezebel completed her wicked scheme than “God's Word came to
Elijah…”
4.
God's
sovereign action.
1.
Ahab
and Jezebel defied God, but He is sovereign and always has the last word.
2.
This
God is the God with whom we all will stand to give account of our selves.
1.
Many,
have been martyred for their faithfulness to Christ, and many are suffering
persecution today and death even right now because they are Christians.
1.
God
will yet vindicate His people and measure out judgment to those who have
rebelled, rejected His word and refused the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
1.
God
is merciful and slow to fulfill His judgment, but He will fulfill it.
3.
God
avenges Naboth's murder.
1.
But
before Ahab takes over the land, God stepped in to restore order, commanding
him to halt his predatory tactics.
1.
Vs. 19
1.
Then
God promised a bloody death for Ahab because of his evil actions.
4.
Listen,
it's great when people want to help each other, but not down a path of
wickedness, greed, and injustice.
1.
Elijah
bravely confronted the man who led his people into evil, and he told of a power
far greater than this pagan god.
1.
The
God of Israel.
1.
We
have to admire each one's strength of commitment.
1.
Ahab
and Jezebel were committed to them selves and her false gods.
2.
Naboth
and Elijah, totally committed to the one true God.
5.
Obsessions
can severely taint our sense of right and wrong.
1.
When
we reflect honestly on our lives, we should seriously consider any and every
thing that drives us to step outside of God's will.
2.
These
impure motives, these contaminated desires need to be confessed and surrendered
to God.
1.
Then
He can help us follow His plan for our lives.
6.
We
become like what we worship.
1.
Worship
is showing our worth of God.
1.
If
you worship money, greed, success, you'll bow at their every request to obtain
them.
1.
If
you worship the lust of the flesh you have sold yourself to work evil and
allowed sin to acquire mastery over your life.
5.
Elijah's
solemn task.
1.
It
was a hard task for Elijah to have to pronounce Ahab and Jezebel's destruction.
1.
What
should be our message in these darkening days?
1.
Should
we tell people that God is love?
1.
Yes.
2.
Should
we say He is merciful?
1.
Yes.
3.
Above
all, we must declare that God is just and holy, that He hates sin, that
judgment is coming upon this world and that if we want to escape it we must
flee to the refuge of salvation which is only in Jesus Christ.
John 3:36
NLT "And anyone who believes in God's Son has eternal life. Anyone who
doesn't obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God's
angry judgment."
2.
The
Devil has a killer instinct.
1.
It's
his life's mission and purpose to steal, kill, and destroy.
2.
It's
Christ's will and purpose that we have life and life in abundance.
1.
Purpose
in abundance, passion in abundance, love in abundance, forgiveness in
abundance, grace in abundance.
Ezekiel
33:11 NLT "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no
pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their
wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of
Israel! Why should you die?"
3.
God
is so, so merciful.
2 Peter 3:9
NLT "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people
think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be
destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."
